It is important to identify the larger external trends that will most affect your organization in the coming years. But trees still don’t grow to the sky, and executives can find themselves off track without an understanding of whether trends will stall or even reverse.

Across different organizations and industries, I tend to hear a number of words and phrases repeated over and over — e.g., “authentic,” “passion,” “disruptive,” “game-changer.” That isn’t necessarily bad, yet it does carry the risk of your team’s conversations sounding like nearly everyone else’s.

One of the most powerful forces of persuasion is “social proof,” the tendency of people to look to the behavior of similar others when they aren’t sure what is correct in a given situation. You can find evidence of social proof nearly everywhere.

We are all hearing more about the power of storytelling when it comes to marketing our products, services, ideas and even ourselves. Now, research at the neurochemical level is revealing how stories affect activity in our brains.

A recent report from ESPN uncovered a real doozy. It is the amazing story of how the most powerful sports apparel company in the world, Nike, let the most electric player in the NBA, Stephen Curry, out of its grasp — and allowed Under Armour to pull off one of the most valuable marketing switcheroos in history.

A campfire seems unlikely, but storytellers will gather round at this year’s Summer Camp Communications Workshop, sponsored by the Arkansas chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators.

There's a bigger picture when it comes to pictures: New research shows that the mere act of writing things out, and drawing pictures of information you need to remember, will improve your memory. That should help you be more persuasive and effective.